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Full Idea
It makes perfectly good sense to say that I existed before I became a person, just as I existed before I became an adult, or a philosopher.
Gist of Idea
I may exist before I become a person, just as I exist before I become an adult
Source
Michael Lockwood (When Does a Life Begin? [1985], p.13)
Book Ref
'Moral Dilemmas in Modern Medicine', ed/tr. Lockwood,Michael [OUP 1988], p.13
A Reaction
The word 'I' needs thought here. I was once a non-adult, but was I ever a non-person? 'Person' is not a clear concept, despite what many philosophers since Locke may think.
4054 | I may exist before I become a person, just as I exist before I become an adult [Lockwood] |
4055 | It isn't obviously wicked to destroy a potential human being (e.g. an ununited egg and sperm) [Lockwood] |
4056 | If the soul is held to leave the body at brain-death, it should arrive at the time of brain-creation [Lockwood] |